The 105-year-old Quamichan Inn has been destroyed by fire.The Tudor-style building at 1478 Maple Bay Rd. in Duncan, which housed a restaurant and a bed-and-breakfast, was gutted by a fire overnight Friday May 27/2016.

Forty firefighters from Maple Bay and North Cowichan’s south end fire hall battled the blaze. Paddle said the fire was extinguished at 6 a.m. Saturday.

“The fire was in the roof, and it was completely engulfed 15 to 20 minutes later,” he said, noting the old timber and open-frame construction contributed to the speed with which the fire spread.“No one was going inside due to the hazards of falling debris.”

There is little left of the building, as the fire department had to bring in an excavator to expose final hot spots Saturday morning, he said.“It’s a big loss,” Paddle said. “That place has been around a long time and a lot of people have had their weddings and anniversaries celebrated there. It’s been a very important place to the community.”

Paddle said the cause of the blaze is under investigation, but it does not appear to be suspicious.The inn, built in 1911 as a private home, was converted into a country inn after Archie and Sheila Owen bought it in 1969. It is now owned by a group of local businessmen.-

Rainbow Island is now safe in the hands of the Cowichan Land Trust.Chemainus naturalist Carol Milo donated the island in Quamichan Lake to the Land Trust, which has made a commitment to protect the island in its natural state for the benefit of current and future generations of all life.“This is a wonderful example of someone valuing nature for itself and not for human use,” Land Trust president Jim Ayers said.Milo purchased Rainbow Island from Rev. Dr. John Sandys-Wunsch, a retired Anglican priest and professor of theology who lived in Victoria. Sandys-Wunsch, who grew up on Maple Bay Road and went to high school in Duncan, frequently rowed in Quamichan Lake. In 1956, he saw a “for sale” sign on the island and bought it for $20. Aside from the occasional visit, he never did anything with the island. Sandys-Wunsch died last September at the age of 79.

Rainbow Island is home to many birds and animals. Last summer, Milo and Land Trust workers put nesting boxes on the island for purple martins. Joining the Land Trust in protecting the island are the Quamichan Stewardship Society and the Municipality of North Cowichan. “I hope this donation will complement the work of the Quamichan Stewards in protecting and restoring the health of the lake,” Milo said.The Cowichan Land Trust celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. In that time, it has worked to protect the Cowichan Valley through education, land acquisition, conservation covenants (like the one with North Cowichan and the Quamichan Stewards to manage Rainbow Island) and community stewardship projects.

Other land-acquisition projects the Land Trust has been involved in include the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve, the Holland Creek Trail Corridor in Ladysmith, and Sansum Point Regional Park.

Educational activities include landowner contact programs, the Watershed Warriors, support for Streamkeeper programs, and the creation of the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre. Current community programs include the Friends of Cowichan Creeks project and the Marvelous Marshes wetland project.For more information about the Cowichan Land Trust or to get involved, visit www.cowichanlandtrust.ca or call 250-746-0227.

1. Create an inventory sheet of what you’re selling, and list the price of each item in case the tag is missing.

2. Price it right. Although you want to price your items slightly higher to account for haggling, don’t price them so high that you can’t sell them. Remember, shoppers expect bargains.

3. Sell with others. Recruit your neighbours, family and friends to sell their stuff with yours. Bigger garage sales often attract more people.

4. Get your items ready to sell. Clean your sale items, and make sure that they’re in good shape. If you’re selling electronics, make sure they’re in good working order, and have the cords attached.

5. Set the date and place for your sale. Saturday is the best day of the week to hold your garage sale. Choose a date a few weeks in advance to give you time to prepare, and choose an alternate date as well in case of bad weather.

6. Advertise your garage sale in your local newspaper, on Kijiji and UsedEverywhere, and with signs on your local roads. Choose bright coloured poster board or cardboard, and write the details of your sale in large black letters that drivers can see from their vehicles. Put up six to eight signs a few days before your sale to improve the chances of shoppers stopping by.

7. Set up an hour or two early on the morning of the sale. Experienced shoppers will show up at the posted time so that they can score the best deals. So if you plan to open your sale at 7 a.m. (the best time of day to do so), then start setting up around 5 or 6 a.m. If you’re like most people, you probably have items in the attic, basement, garage and closets that you don’t need, use and maybe even forgot that you had. Garage sales allow you to make space in your home while making money.

Whether you are curled up in front of the fireplace or out skiing the local hills, winter on the west coast can be exciting.As the weather here on the west coast is not like any other place in the world, you can expect to have mild temperatures and little snow at the lower altitudes.We usually see one or two snowfalls each winter and normally the snow doesn't last more than a day or two. Higher altitudes can see a lot more snow and it can last for months. We do see more than our share of rain, but at least you don't have to shovel it.

Winter GardeningWinter gardening is summer planting for winter harvest. In our mild Coastal climate we can grow some vegetables all winter without protection. You can eat these plants throughout the winter, so they need to be full size by about Halloween. Until Valentines Day, plants grow very slowly and do not re-grow after harvest as they might in the summer. The greatest challenges are rain, low light levels and temperature swings.

Overwintering is summer planting for spring harvest. This is a different concept from winter gardening. Overwintered plants go into the cold season as "teenagers," waiting for the lengthening days of spring to finish growing. Certain varieties of onions, garlic, cauliflower and sprouting broccoli need this extra season to develop fully.

Typically, overwintered vegetables need to have some growth achieved before winter frosts—but they keep growing without being covered. In the early Spring, their growth rates speed up, and they are ready to be picked.

With some planning, overwintered crops can be combined with winter gardening and regular spring/summer gardening to provide fresh vegetables all 12 months of the year.

Winter Storm & Surf WatchingThundering surf, huge rolling swells, miles of secluded beaches, gulls floating on the ocean breezes ... just you ... experiencing heaven on earth. During late fall and winter the West Coast takes on a new life ... the ocean captures raw energy and movement begins ... The air becomes cool and a mystical fog plays over the towering forest and restless sea.

Some say it is the finest time to experience this magical coast, to spend time alone, taking time to sit on a log and gaze across shimmering waters that blend into an endless blue sky.

Looking for adventure ... The West Coast of Vancouver Island offers an excellent surf beach, paddle and kite surfing, Bring your kayak or rent locally. Hike for miles, and become one with the exquisite natural environment. Bring your camera for those special storm shots while beach combing the Pacific Ocean.

Trumpeter Pointe is an upscale master-planned lakeside real estate development near Maple Bay and Duncan on Vancouver Island. This 24-acre residential subdivision offers 49 view lots and 17 waterfront lots featuring lake and mountain views, an abundance of green space, parkland, and walking trails. Both underground-serviced residential building lots and luxurious Built Green new homes are now available. Custom home plans and home construction services from Nicon Developments are also available for residential building lot purchasers. Nick Woywitka, the developer of the Trumpeter Pointe subdivision, and owner of Nicon, knows the importance of window and deck locations, benefits of vaulted ceilings and expansive glass, and the beauty of indigenous materials for new lakeside homes. Whether you want to customize existing home plans or create new custom homes plans from start to finish, Nicon has the expertise to guide you through the entire new home construction process at Trumpeter Pointe, making it a stress-free and enjoyable experience.Check us out!

Don't forget to make your home safe before you go on that well deserved summer vacation.Here are five things you should do before you leave on that trip.1.Hold Your Mail and newspapers. A pile of unopened mail and unread newspapers announces to a would-be burglar that your home is empty and ready for intruders. 2.Get rid of the Spare Key. If your home is being targeted, the first thing a criminal will look for is a spare key. If you need to leave a key, make sure you leave it with a neighbor and not hiding outside your home.3. Avoid Social Media. While you are away, avoid posting photos and updates of your activities. This is a perfect invite for an intruder. 4. Trick Potential Intruders. Make it look like someone’s home when you’re out having fun. Here are some ways to outsmart crooks:

Time lights and electronics. You can time your lights, television, and other electronics to turn on and off throughout the day. You want your lights to look natural, as if someone’s home. Avoid leaving your lights on the entire time you are gone. This will not only increase your electric bill, but it’s also suspicious, since most people don’t leave lights on all the time when they’re home.

Hire a landscaper. If you’re going to be out of town for a week or more, hire someone to mow your lawn and trim your hedges, so it looks like someone’s around and doing the yard work.

Have a neighbor park out front. Tell a trustworthy neighbor when you’re going to be out of town, and ask them to park a car in front of your house to make it look like someone’s home.

Ask Neighbors to Keep an Eye Out Friendly neighbors can be an important line of defense against intruders.

If you take precautions before going on vacation, then you can relax instead of worrying about the state of your home while you’re gone. For additional home safety and travel tips, visit SafeWise.com. If you have additional tips for keeping your home safe while on vacation, please share in the comments!

2. Drink plenty of cool water. During summer, you sweat more, and you have to replenish the water in your body. So drink a nice cold glass of water, and keep a bottle with you always. A tip to stay more cool is fill up a water bottle and put in the freezer for 30 min to an hour, and freeze another to take outdoors and the "iced-water" will last much longer. Don't risk dehydration.

3. Find a friend, and go for a swim, have a water fight, or just dump buckets of water on each other. A weird but fun way is bring a nice cool bucket of water and pour it on your trampoline if you own one and then you created your own slip and slide.

4. Place an ice pack on your wrists. It cools the blood in your veins, and instantly makes you feel cooler. You could also run your pulse under some cold water or just splash some cold water on your face to stay at a desirable temperature

5. Sleep with a sheet when you go to bed, and have a fan directed toward you. You can also dampen your sheets in water and the air blowing from the fan will make you feel refreshed, until it all evaporates.

6. Turn off unnecessary lights, TV, oven, etc. During the day, keep off the majority of your lights, since they produce energy and heat!

7. Shower or bathe frequently in mildly warm, or cold water to stay refreshed.

8. If you have an air conditioner, turn it on. Keep the air filter clean to avoid clogging or fungus may grow there. For best results, close the doors to the rooms that have the air conditioning on. This will trap the cool air in the room, keeping you cooled down.

9. Make sure the setting on the AC is on "high" to move the air through faster and farther. This is not the "colder-to-warmer" settings. That uses very little additional power, but may make a louder "shushing" air sound.

10. Use a portable fan set at the desired setting to keep you at your own comfort zone, too.